Forget pages of text (that's what I had the first time I went to Greece),
this visually rich guidebook is the way to go, especially in such an
historically orientated country. Great site maps. Unless you're spending
an awful lot of time here you won't use more than two-thirds of it,
but
having
it
along makes all the difference.

Also, it's not all ancient history by any means, the local food section
is REALLY useful and coverage of Athens excellent.

This guidebook is well up to Eyewitness visual standards, but because
it covers most of the myriad Greek islands, it tends to be a bit thin
on each one. For example, there aren't maps of all the major towns
(although I appreciate many are quite small!).

If I was going to a lot of islands, this would be useful and it's
certainly good for giving you a taste of the different options. Of
course, as a beautiful souvenir it's magnificent.

A lot of this was written by a Greek who spent 20 years knocking
about the islands and it shows (she still goes back every year to see her family). If you have more change in your pocket
than the average backpacker, you'll find this book's recommendations
useful (9th Edition, June 2007, 672 pp).

Again, this covers a wide range of islands (and Athens), so the in-depth
information on each is necessarily limited. The maps are quite good
though, and the style of writing refreshing. Lots of interesting background
on Greek island customs, mythology and goodish coverage of ancient
sites.

This is the updated version of the one Helen and I used when we spent a couple of weeks travelling
light around Santorini, Mykonos etc. We didn't book anything and find
that for this type of travel the LP guides can be quite useful, especially
from the weight point of view.

The book also covers Athens, but is slightly out-of-date on a few
things (2006 edition).

Not perfect, and getting on a bit (2003), but worth it if Crete is your destination.
Conveniently sized, it's attractively designed and covers the important
bases.

"The island of Crete is divided into three regions. Highlights of
the central region include Crete's capital, Irakleio, as well as
the archaeological
sites of Knosos, Phaestos, Gortys and the resorts of Malia and Chersonisos.
The western region profiles Rethymno, Chania, and Samaria Gorge while
the eastern region focuses on the holiday resort of Agios Nikolaos.
"